


Child-Like Mentality

by MadnessOfInfinity



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-11-28
Updated: 2012-12-15
Packaged: 2017-11-19 18:27:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/576328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadnessOfInfinity/pseuds/MadnessOfInfinity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During Mystery Spot, instead of Sam finding the Trickster and everything working out, something goes wrong. It's now up to the Trickster to save Sam. Can he fix him, or will Sam remain like that for the rest of his life? Read and find out! Sabriel if you squint hard enough</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

It was sometime between the 113th and the 121st Tuesday that Gabriel began to notice that something was wrong. As Dean kept dying and dying, Sam seemed to make no progress towards any logical reasoning behind the loop. Gabriel was disappointed. Sam was supposed to be the smart Winchester. On the 135th Tuesday, Gabriel was running out of (creative) ways to kill Dean and had already succumbed to killing him via food poisoning from tacos and choking on a piece of sausage. It was getting rather pathetic, so Gabriel decided to toss Sam a bone so to speak, and ordered strawberry syrup instead of maple. The trap worked, and Sam finally figured out who was tricking him but he still was nowhere near the reason behind why he was being kept there. So he let Sam think that Wednesday was going to be the solution to all of his problems. Then he killed Dean again but didn’t give him back. Sam went through the five stages of grief, but stuck primarily on anger. He hunted down the trickster relentlessly and followed every lead even if they lead to hunts that no one was suicidal enough to do by themselves. Slowly even that determination ran out and Sam just fell into a downward spiral of depression, and when he refused to leave the room for 12 days straight, Gabriel decided that maybe he should try the straight forward approach.

He popped into Sam’s motel room, and was immediately shocked to find Sam curled up on the bed, hiding under the blankets from him. That was hint number one. Hint number two was Sam finally picking up his gun and pointing it at him. That may sound normal for a Winchester except Gabriel could see a slight tremble wracking Sam’s body, as if this was the first time he had ever pointed a gun at a real person. The third hint was when Sam’s eyes began to water as he asked, “Who are you and where’s De?” Gabriel was confused. Sam knew who he was, but didn’t recognize him at all, and who was De? 

“Where’s De? And Daddy? He said that he’d be home by now, and De said that he left for just a minute to find some dinner… De promised me hotdogs for dinner tonight because yesterday we had nasty soup. And candy! De said that he would get M&M’s because I’m working on my fractions, and he said that he’d help me learn them so that when Daddy comes back I can show him how smart I am. Where are they? I’ve never been on my own for this long before…”

Something in Gabriel’s mind clicked at that, and he realized that he had a very serious problem on his hands.

He had broken Sam Winchester.


	2. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I forgot this is in the prologue (and all of my other stories) but I don't own anything.

'Shit, what the hell am I supposed to do with this?' thought Gabriel as he took in Sam trying to stop crying as he trembled, holding onto the gun.

"Sammy, I'm a-"

"Only De can call me Sammy." Sam informed him.

"Sam, I'm a friend of your father's and I need you to calm down for me." Sam seemed to consider this for a minute and the gun lowered as he thought about how to proceed. He came to a decision and the gun came back up to point at him.

"De says that I'm not sup- suppo-… I shouldn't trust strangers. He said that strangers lie. Are you lying to me?" Sam asked as he cocked his head to the side. Gabriel thought he was adorable with the floppy hair and the puppy eyes, but then he remembered that there was indeed a gun pointed at him and he never did take well to threats. He snapped, and the gun that Sam was holding disappeared and reappeared on the bedside table. Sam flinched in shock, and ran back to jump under the covers. Gabriel could see the comforter shaking indicating that Sam was trembling again. Gabriel ran a hand down his face in agitation. He was not a good person to be taking care of children.

"Sammy, I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Loki. I'm a friend of your father's and he called me here to make sure that you were okay. Dean got held up at school. You know Dean and getting detentions." Gabriel cracked a smile at Sam, and Sam poked his head out from under the covers. He looked at Gabriel, and seeing the smile and, what Gabriel hoped, was some sort of comfort in his eyes. Sam still seemed sort of hesitant, but slowly got out from under the covers.

"… Can we still have hotdogs?" Sam asked, as he stood before Gabriel. Gabriel nodded and walked over the fridge where he snapped and then opened the door to grab out a package of hotdogs.

"I'll make these real quick, how about you take a seat at the table and tell me about your day?" Gabriel was trying to get more information about just how old Sam was at this stage. He put the hotdogs in the microwave and sat across from Sam. Sam's eye lit up at the chance to talk to someone.

"Well it started okay. Timmy was being mean and pushed me down at the playground and everyone laughed. But when we were in class, I won the science fair! I made a volcano! It went off all awesome-like, and exploded like it was sup-… suppo-…"

"Supposed."

"Supposed to. It was the coolest thing ever! And then we…" Sam looked so excited and… what was that? He had never seen it on Sam's face before. Was that happiness? Is that what Sam looked like when he was happy? It changed his entire face. His eyes lit up and seemed to glow, and his had a huge grin on his face as he's explaining how all of the other kids' projects were nowhere close to how cool his was because Dean helped him with his.

"So, Sam," Gabriel interrupted. "How old are you now? The last time I saw you, you must've been… Huh you were really little, still a baby I think."

"I'm not a baby! I'm 7 years old!" Sam said proudly, a smug grin on his face at being that old.

"So that would make Dean..."

Sam crinkled his nose. "Dean's so old. He just turned… 12." Sam whispered as if that was really old, and it was an embarrassing secret for Dean. Gabriel just smiled at his enthusiasm. The microwave went off, and Gabriel snapped to pop up some hotdog buns in the cabinet and then pulled them out.

"Sam, what do you want on your hotdog?"

Sam seemed to ponder this for a minute before he answered, "Ketchup!" So Gabriel snapped up a bottle of ketchup and fixed up Sam's hotdog for him.

"Here you go, kiddo." Gabriel said as he set the hotdog in front of Sam. Sam's eyes started to water, and Gabriel started to panic. "What, what's wrong?"

"… Dean calls me kiddo! Where's Dean? I want De!" Sam said as he started to wail. Gabriel closed his eyes and let out a breath.

"Sam, if you eat your hotdog and sit here for a minute, I'll go get Dean for you." That seemed to work, as Sam picked up his hotdog and tried to eat as much as he could at one time. "Alright, I'll be right back." Gabriel walked out of the door, and first cancelled the time loop and sent Sam back to his and Dean's motel room, with the hotdog of course. He then snapped, and Dean was there with all of the memories of how many times he died. He looked around, before patting himself down to check for injuries when Dean's eyes landed on Gabriel. A spark of insanity seemed to appear, as Dean tried to charge him but found that he couldn't move.

"Deano, chill for two seconds. Couldn't even say 'Hey how are you, Trickster?' before you start to charge? Rude much?" Gabriel said, and then realized that there seemed to be smoke coming from Dean's ears. "Okay, before I let you go I need you to listen to me. You got that?" He could see Dean try to say no, but he still couldn't move. "It's either yes, or you die again." Dean's eyes widened and he nodded, as when he agreed to listen the magic holding him disappeared.

Gabriel looked guilty, and he cleared his throat.

"Trickster, what the hell is happening?"

"This whole thing, with the killing you stuff too, was to try and help Sam learn how to get over you going to Hell. I was trying to teach him how to live without you, how to give you up so that he could still function… Yea, that didn't go so well." He could see the exact moment that the pieces fell into place for Dean.

"Where's Sammy?" Dean growled.

"I have him, and he's safe…. There's just another problem."

"What did you do to him?" Dean growled once again.

"… I broke him?" Gabriel asked, and then winced waiting for the charging to start again. He looked at Dean and saw no emotion on Dean's face he knew he was in deep shit. Gabriel gave Dean time to cool off, as he assumed that Dean was angry, but he saw Dean shutting down more and more, he decided that it was time to just tell him.

"So I killed you over, and over, and over, and over, right?" Gabriel didn't wait for Dean to say anything as he continued, "Well, then I decided to keep you dead to see how he functioned without you. At first, he was fine. Normal, well for him. He was crazy with revenge, trying to find me and beg me to bring you back. He kept moving around following up leads even those that had nothing to do with me. He took hunts that no sane person would take as he searched for me, and he stayed on the move, leaving about every 3 days. Then, he stayed in one of the motels for 12 days. I went to check it out and I found him huddled under the blankets, sobbing his eyes out. I popped in, and he stood, trembling, pointing a gun at him and asking for De and Daddy. So yep, I broke him. And now I shall leave him to you. He's in there," Gabriel turned to point to a door behind him and when he turned around; Dean was in face, hands grabbing his collar.

"You think that you can just get away with this? That you can do whatever you want to whoever you want and leave others to pick up your mess? No, I don't fucking think so. You're going to go in there with me and you're going to help me fix him, because if you don't…" Dean trailed off, but Gabriel got the message by the look in Dean's eyes.

"Is that threat, Winchester?" Gabriel's eyes hardened and his grace billowed out to threaten Dean. Dean tensed, but he didn't let go.

"Yes. Yes it is." Dean replied, and stared Gabriel down. Gabriel saw the hopelessness and the love that Dean held for his brother that reminded him so much of himself. He relaxed, and pulled his grace back.

"Fine, I'll help you. But don't threaten me again, Winchester, because you won't like the consequences." He turned and entered the motel room, with Dean not far behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, thank you so much for reviewing! How was Chapter 1? Any feedback is great, and if you have questions or plot ideas or comments in general, review!
> 
> Have a great Tuesday! And let's hope Dean doesn't die over and over again ;-)
> 
> MadnessOfInfinity


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2:

Gabriel entered the motel room first, followed closely by Dean. 

Sam looked up at the door, and smiled when he saw Gabriel. “Loki! Where’s Dean? Did he get out of his detention? Look, I finished my hotdogs! Can we watch TV? Dean always lets me watch TV after I finish all my food.” Sam looked closer at him and tentatively asked, “Is something wrong? You seem sad.” 

Gabriel shook his head. “It’s alright Sammy-”

“Only De can call me Sammy!”

“Sam. It’s alright, and I found Dean, but he may be a bit diff-”

“De’s here?” Sam’s eye lit up at the prospect of seeing his brother. “I haven’t seen him since he walked me to school this morning. Where is he?” Sam stood up and looked both ways, searching for his brother.   
Dean, having been shocked motionless, stepped out from behind Loki. “Hey Sammy.”

“Only De can call me Sammy, and you’re not De.” Sam turned to Loki with his lower lip quivering. “You said that you found De! That isn’t De! Where’s De?” Sam looked to be at his breaking point and was very close to throwing a fit.

“Sammy, it’s me. I know that I look different but it’s me.”

Sam looked towards Dean, and shook his head. “No. You’re not. I know my own brother, and you’re not him. De is 12! You’re at least a billion.” Sam stated this with a straight face as Loki chuckled. He stopped when he saw the glare of death that Dean was shooting him. 

Loki cleared his throat, and turned towards Sam. “Sam, this is your brother, and I can prove it to you. Is there something, a question or a phrase or something, that only Dean would know?”

Sam looked like he was thinking as Dean took in the room. He saw the hotdog wrappers, and could make a pretty good guess as to what age Sammy was. For a while, Sammy had gone through a hotdog phase where he would eat nothing but hotdogs. Dean remembers this fact because his Sammy, the adult Sammy, would not go anywhere near hotdogs. 

“What did I give you for Christmas this year?” Sam looked at Dean, and Dean’s heart broke a little when he remembered how they used to actually celebrate Christmas. 

Dean moved to stand in front of Sam. “You got me a necklace. This amulet in fact,” Dean pulled it out from under his shirt. “I’m the only one who knows beside Bob- Uncle Bobby, because Dad wasn’t here when you gave it to me. I can also tell you that you’re 7 years old, you are in the second grade, your favorite color is green, your favorite food is hotdogs, you want to be a veterinarian when you grow up, and you can’t go to sleep unless I’m next to you because you’re afraid that the boogeyman is going to get you.” Dean brushes Sam’s hair back from his face as he continues, “You hate that we never stay in the same place for long, and that Dad is never around. You don’t understand why he never stays for long, and that’s why you try so hard in school. You hope that if you do well that he’ll stay home with us. You don’t know why everyone else can live with their parents and you only have me. But I promise you Sammy, things will get better.” Dean throws in that last line as he told Sam that every day for years. He hopes that Sam will believe him and that they can start on fixing this. 

Sam eyes are filled with tears, and he nearly tackles Dean over. “Dean!” Sam’s arms wrap around Dean’s waist as Dean’s come up to wrap around Sam’s shoulders. He runs one hand through Sam’s hair, remembering how that always calms him down, no matter what age. He murmurs in Sam’s ear that everything will be okay, that he’s here now to help. 

Loki feels like he’s intruding and he starts to ponder how to fix Sam. He starts by thinking about how Sam became this way. He realizes that it was all the stress from losing Dean that broke Sam’s already fragile mind, but why did he regress to a child’s age? Was that the last safe moment in his mind? 

“Dean, when did Sam learn of… well you know.” Loki asks Dean.

Dean puts his chin on Sam’s shoulder and looks at Loki. “He was eight I think. Dad had come home and Sammy found his journal. We never lied to him, so when he asked I told him.” 

Loki seemed to think this over. “Well, I have an idea as to why Sam has become this way. The stress from Azazel, you making your deal, and all the shit that I threw at him must’ve cracked his mental state and he regressed to the last safe point that he can remember. The time before he knew of everything.”

“… Well, that seems reasonable. How do we fix him then?” 

“I think that we’ll have to convince him that you’re truly here and that he’s safe. Or when he’s sleeping I can slip into his mind and release the hold that he put on his memories. The second one might go a little more smoothly.”

“No, no way. I don’t want you in my brother’s head. You’ve already screwed him up enough as is.”

Loki popped over to the two, still hugging, brothers, and put two fingers to Sam’s forehead. “Like you could stop me,” and then he pushed himself into Sam’s mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'd like to thank all the people who gave kudos and followed this story. It means a lot that you guys actually like this story!
> 
> Also, here's a Teen Wolf rant because my friend made me watch it so spoilers through season 2. Why does everyone hate Derek and Peter? Derek saves Scott's life so many times and Scott just leaves him for dead on numerous occasions! And they all hated Peter because he killed people... He was killing the people who set him and his family on FIRE! How is that punishable? And then for him to die by fire... Low blow everybody... Though I did enjoy the self-igniting molotovs... Maybe they should've gotten those in Supernatural... Hmm... Anyhoo, I don't understand why everyone is so against Derek and Peter, when they're just living their lives. Okay, Derek has a reason to hate Peter because Peter killed his sister, but he's the only one I can see with a legit problem. All the other people are just bound up in their moral superiority... Idiots.
> 
> Also, I love Peter in case anyone didn't get that.
> 
> There, all done with my Teen Wolf rant. I feel better. :-)
> 
> Hope everyone is having a great December!
> 
> MadnessOfInfinity

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! This is a new story idea that I've been playing around with so here's the prologue... What did you think? Should I keep going with it? I have about half of the first chapter written so if you guys like it, I could probably have it up in say... a week and half-ish? 
> 
> Hope you all had a great day/evening/morning/whatever you would like to have had that's happy/life/whatever!
> 
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> MadnessOfInfinity


End file.
